Naneghat-Jivdhan-Bhoranda Nal Trek

We were five of us for this (Naneghat – Jivdhan – Bhoranda Nal trek) and let me tell you it was just more than a fascinating one!

Naneghat as usual offers a good and leisurely hike.. whereas the Khadaparsi, Kalyan Darwaja and Ghatghar route in monsoons just doubled up the bonanza for us.

Bhoranda Nal is a very lesser know Nal descending from the plateau towards Bhorande village and it offers just a obscure path and a long steep Nal descending..just a much needed change from the well beaten track of Naneghat!

All in all.. it was just a wonderful trek…

Photos would be uploaded soon…!

A brief travelogue…

Naneghat-Jivdhan-Bhoranda Nal trek

The prelude…
I pledged my self before taking on to write this piece: It mustn’t be too long a piece..oh keep peace, it won’t be I guess.

It has been to long since I had been to Naneghat-Jivdhan: precisely some years plus a decade back. Well, visiting Jivdhan was like rekindling an old love affair, and in what way did it happen! Five wonderful friends, lush green and few moments that can challenge even the funniest of bones. Oh and that unique Chameleon just made for a perfect finish line. The fresh green perfectly camouflaged the reptile, the slow stylish gait, the grip quite un-peculiar to any reptile, it seemed so very different!

Jivdhan is always a pleasure in any season, leave aside monsoon. Infac it can get a bit tricky if taken a bit casually and the thickets combined with the blinding thick fog can just leave even the localites from Ghatghar guessing their way (they say it, not meJ). Yeah, the fog can leave anyone completely disoriented, Couple that with the sheer vertical cliffs mocking at you, and you often wonder: Hell! Where is the way from? It is there, just in front mates! Go and find it.

Delayed start…
The start wasn’t the most punctual one: well past 8 AM and still reeling at the Kalyan ST depot. Oh we had a day ahead, a long day awaiting our trudge. And the wait eventually ended when our ‘Lal Dabba’ embarked on its journey. A couple of nifty moments passed before we reached the milestone indicating the way towards Naneghat. Alighting from the bus, rucksacks loaded on the backs and five souls wandered along the trail, glancing up every now and then towards the peaking thumb shaped pinnacle of Naneghat: hiding behind the clouds as we glanced up.

Quick wrap of Naneghat…
As one is well aware, Naneghat is now a highway with arrow marks indicating the way every few metres, oh so… a well marked highway, just unmetalled albeit. It was just a couple of hours and we saw ourselves in the fabulous cave keeping a keen eye near the top. A look around the cave barely lasted few minutes (as all of us having already seen the cave number of times earlier). Every time the Brahmi script doesn’t cease to admire me. Moving further through the narrow gorge we moved ahead to embrace the expansive plateau overlloked by the majestic Jivdhan fort. Yeah, Jivdhan and Khadaparsi solicited our visions as the cloud carpet cleared for a brief while. Afternoon lunch and Jivdhan called us, once again, perhaps more eagerly this time!

Towards Jivdhan…
As planned we marched towards Khadaparsi (Vanarlingi) pinnacle. Fog engulfed us and still the footsteps did not hesitate to move on, blinded of course. Perhaps the fog got a bit lenient on us as it uncovered its carpet and we soon realized that we are exactly right angles away from our route. We made the cut and not long before we entered the forest we started our guesswork of the probable path. Numerous cattle trails can be a bit misleading here.

However, a bit of search here and there and just about 30 minutes before we reached the flight of rock cut steps. Moving up and then a comfortable trail leads to the Darwaja in another 30 minutes. Oh the fort is beautiful..old affair rekindled!It was around 3.15 PM now.

Khadaparsi awe…
Before reaching the Darwaja, we also made a brief visit to the base of the Khadaparsi pinnacle (Vanarlingi) and it was just the most amazing view. The base, tall pinnacle humbling our raised head and vertical visions, the breeze and the wonderful narrow cave at the base. Oh check the pics to be uploaded sooner!

Wonderful Jivdhan…Moving further up, our sights were blessed with some old ruins singling the glory of bygone era, Jivai Devi temple, a shivling… and of course million dollar water tanks quenching our thirsts!

Some brief moments of wandering and look around before we started descending towards the Ghatghar side. On the way we further came across the beautifully constructed Granay still holding the ashes of the 1818 ravage by the British. The granary is exemplary in its architecture. Some more water tanks, Buruj, fort walls and ruins before we traced out steps for the descent. The fog went thicker and rains heavier. We spent a toal of around 2 and half hours looking around and allowing ourselves to be mesmerized by the beauty.

The view from top includes Durg-Dhakoba, Naneghat, Siddhagad, Gorakhgad, Macchindragad, Malshej ghat..of course at the weather’s mercy!

Ghatghar descent…
Carefully we negotiated the tricky blasted steps and a small easy patch demanding proper care. A bit of descent over the mud trail and a total one hour’s descent saw us in the cozy ambience of the Ghatghar village.A hot cuppa of tea, biscuits, spiced up with masti chats and comforting shelter under one of the many rooms that Ghatghar houses; followed by dinner before everyone retired for the night.

Bhoranda Nal beauty…
Next day (Sunday) saw an early rise of 6.00 AM, before everyone quickly woke up and marched for the descent via Bhoranda Nal. Turning our backs towards the Jivdhan fort, we moved straight ahead keeping the Navri and Varhada cliffs to our right. The Nal descends straight towards Fagane/Bhorande village near Moroshi.

The rains made the Nal quite a bit slippery and few obscure trails made our task a bit like trial and error. We guessed, reoriented and kept moving along the Nala: negotiating intervening treacherous patches and boulders. We finished the Nala and then a well marked trail leads straight towards the Kalyan-Ahmednagar highway in another 45 minutes. It is one this trail that we came across the wonderful Chameleon described above (see top).

Adieu friends…
A 10 minutes walk to Bhoirwadi/Fagane bus stop and we boarded a Kalyan bus. A couple of hours ride say us in Kalyan at around 3.00 PM. A good and heavy lunch followed by the thing that I hate the most.. the adieu time.. I hate to bid tata-bye bye to my friends as the trek concludes! Well, it gives me a reason to smile too… as every adios is surely to be followed by a warm welcome, probably a week or fortnight later invariably!

Hail to the Sahyadris (mountains in general) and a bow to all my wonderful friends (Raj, Amod, Vinita, Kinjal) who once again etched some wonderful memories in my grey mater!